Tmj, Ear, Nose And Throat, And Thyroid?

[Ksmith]

Hello,

I was wondering if any of you with thyroid problems also have TMJ or ear, nose and throat problems? I do not know if I have thyroid problems, but I do have sort of a constant chronic "head cold" that is supplemented with TMJ. Just curious if there is a relation between the three. Thanks!

~K

[Nancym]

I've had all three of those but not at the same time. You might be getting chronic sinus infections and that can be caused by low thyroid (I think). Or it might be due to something else. TMJ might be a separate issue. My TMJ was caused by autoimmune arthritis. Getting treated for that, going on a good paleo diet really handled it. But I had a lot of pain from it.

[georgie]

I think they are linked. I have had TMJ problems as long as I remember, and Hypothyroid. I often used to get sinus infections beore Hypo was treated this year. Have you tried a Google search ?

[Ksmith]

I think they are linked. I have had TMJ problems as long as I remember, and Hypothyroid. I often used to get sinus infections beore Hypo was treated this year. Have you tried a Google search ?

I just did a google...seemingly, they're linked! Anyone else had all three issues?

[CarlaB]

I have, in fact, my TMJ treatment has been covered by my medical (not dental) insurance. I wore a splint to move my jaw, now I have braces. It's definately been worth the orthodontics as my jaw gives me no more problems.

I have Lyme Disease, so I think those issues are more a result of that than of my gluten intolerance.

[dlp252]

I have the TMJ and ear/nose/throat issue, but not technically the thyroid although I suspect I DO have an issue with it. No doctor has ever run more than the standard TSH test for thyroid, and I know enough to know that that is not always the best test to run. When I was getting my frequent sinus infections, I did have one ENT doctor that did a clinical trial with thyroid meds, which seemed to help a little, but not much, and he never did any bloodwork, so I doubt I was taking the right dosage. I have recently been tested for adrenal fatigue, which I DO have a problem with and that often goes hand in hand with thyroid issues too.

[jerseyangel]

I have TMJ--which was diagnosed by an ENT doctor in 2004. He said at the time I was a "classic case". I also had issues with sinus infections, but since I've been gluten-free, I have not had any. Not even a head cold!

I get pain along the left side of my jaw, and some popping of the joint. I suspect this began with some dental work that I had on an upper tooth on that side. Not sure about that, though.

I also suspect thyroid problems, and when I asked my GP and told her about which symptoms made me suspicious, she agreed. I was tested for TSH, T3 and T4 (unfortunately, not Free T3 and Free T4--which I found out about after I was tested). My tests all came back within the normal range. I wish my doctor had thought (or knew) to test for the "Free's".

I also have a history of thyroid problems in my family.

[georgie]

Jerseyangel, Donna, You both need the correct testing for Thyroid. Particularly Thyroid Antibodies which show if you have an Autoimmune Thyroiditis - Hashimotos. Once you have one autoimmune disease ( eg celiac) you are at risk of having others. Testing TSH alone won't show that problem all the time. And FREE T4 and FREE T3 show a lot too.Both results should be mid range or high range ..... not sitting at low normal. Autoimmune diseases are genetic - so often show up in familes.

If you go to stopthethyroidmadness you will get a lot of info. And they have good Docs too - so can help you. Mary Shoman has a good site too and a list of ways to get tested and treated. It may take a bit of shopping to find an answer but its worth it.

I have adrenal fatigue too. It goes with low Thyroid a lot. We burn ourselves out - trying to manage. Mr Dr is treating me with low dose cortisone to rest and heal. The evidence from 'Safe Uses of Cortsil' Dr Jeffries is well researched and over 40 years of research he has developed a plan that appears safe and seems to work. But you need a Dr that has read the book or has low Thyroid herself ! www.drrind.com has developed a temperature chart that dx hypo and /or adrenal fatigue. I have been dosing to that and getting good results.

[dlp252]

Jerseyangel, Donna, You both need the correct testing for Thyroid. Particularly Thyroid Antibodies which show if you have an Autoimmune Thyroiditis - Hashimotos. Once you have one autoimmune disease ( eg celiac) you are at risk of having others. Testing TSH alone won't show that problem all the time. And FREE T4 and FREE T3 show a lot too.Both results should be mid range or high range ..... not sitting at low normal. Autoimmune diseases are genetic - so often show up in familes.

If you go to stopthethyroidmadness you will get a lot of info. And they have good Docs too - so can help you. Mary Shoman has a good site too and a list of ways to get tested and treated. It may take a bit of shopping to find an answer but its worth it.

I have adrenal fatigue too. It goes with low Thyroid a lot. We burn ourselves out - trying to manage. Mr Dr is treating me with low dose cortisone to rest and heal. The evidence from 'Safe Uses of Cortsil' Dr Jeffries is well researched and over 40 years of research he has developed a plan that appears safe and seems to work. But you need a Dr that has read the book or has low Thyroid herself ! www.drrind.com has developed a temperature chart that dx hypo and /or adrenal fatigue. I have been dosing to that and getting good results.

Thanks Georgie - I've actually looked around at www.stopthemadness.com a bit...it's a great site. I think I even printed the temperature chart, but not sure where I put it, lol. I do know that I haven't been feeling well for several days and have been taking my temperature at home with both a basal thermometer and one of those digital ones, and both have registered me between 96 and 97.7 at any time I've taken it. Yesterday at the doctor's office I registered 98.2 (on a diigtal) though.

[georgie]

Thanks Georgie - I've actually looked around at www.stopthemadness.com a bit...it's a great site. I think I even printed the temperature chart, but not sure where I put it, lol. I do know that I haven't been feeling well for several days and have been taking my temperature at home with both a basal thermometer and one of those digital ones, and both have registered me between 96 and 97.7 at any time I've taken it. Yesterday at the doctor's office I registered 98.2 (on a diigtal) though.

Those temps are not good. They warrant some further testing. Hopefully you can convince your Dr on this Is this the site for temps that you were looking for ? www.drrind.com

Basal temp = thyroid. take that each day and graph it.

Take 3 x temps through the day. Get an ave from those 3 figures and graph that one reading.

Graph has 2 lines. One is thyroid. One is adrenal but also thyroid. Thyroid is good when PM temp is 98.6. Adenal is good when it doesn't fluctuate more than 0.2 from day to day. This is info I learned from STTM and have been using to get well this year. You simply keep slowly adding Armour until that graph stabilises. If adrenal - add adrenal meds. Its so simple that most Drs get scared

[dlp252]

Those temps are not good. They warrant some further testing. Hopefully you can convince your Dr on this Is this the site for temps that you were looking for ? www.drrind.com

Basal temp = thyroid. take that each day and graph it.

Take 3 x temps through the day. Get an ave from those 3 figures and graph that one reading.

Graph has 2 lines. One is thyroid. One is adrenal but also thyroid. Thyroid is good when PM temp is 98.6. Adenal is good when it doesn't fluctuate more than 0.2 from day to day. This is info I learned from STTM and have been using to get well this year. You simply keep slowly adding Armour until that graph stabilises. If adrenal - add adrenal meds. Its so simple that most Drs get scared

Thanks Georgie - yep, I think that was the site...I found a link on the stopthemadness site I think, or maybe it was from another thread here in which you posted. I forgot to ask the doctor today if they even test for thyroid (it's sort of an alternative clinic)...I'll ask Friday for sure.

[Ksmith]

I have yet to see my temp. go above 97.8--but that is right one the border, right? Sometimes lower--like 97.3. I'll have to talk about doing a temperature graph with my ND...although, is 97.8 even really worth worrying about?

[georgie]

I have yet to see my temp. go above 97.8--but that is right one the border, right? Sometimes lower--like 97.3. I'll have to talk about doing a temperature graph with my ND...although, is 97.8 even really worth worrying about?

Is that basal temp or anytime through the day temp ? Its a bit low. May still be worth checking. It should be 98.6 during the day.

Thanks Georgie - yep, I think that was the site...I found a link on the stopthemadness site I think, or maybe it was from another thread here in which you posted. I forgot to ask the doctor today if they even test for thyroid (it's sort of an alternative clinic)...I'll ask Friday for sure.

Make sure they do all the thyroid tests. And get your results as paperwork so you can 2x check !

[Ksmith]

Is that basal temp or anytime through the day temp ? Its a bit low. May still be worth checking. It should be 98.6 during the day.

That is during the day...but it usually is lower during the day than in the morning which is really weird...Thanks!

[jerseyangel]

Jerseyangel, Donna, You both need the correct testing for Thyroid. Particularly Thyroid Antibodies which show if you have an Autoimmune Thyroiditis - Hashimotos. Once you have one autoimmune disease ( eg celiac) you are at risk of having others. Testing TSH alone won't show that problem all the time. And FREE T4 and FREE T3 show a lot too.Both results should be mid range or high range ..... not sitting at low normal. Autoimmune diseases are genetic - so often show up in familes.

If you go to stopthethyroidmadness you will get a lot of info. And they have good Docs too - so can help you. Mary Shoman has a good site too and a list of ways to get tested and treated. It may take a bit of shopping to find an answer but its worth it.

I have adrenal fatigue too. It goes with low Thyroid a lot. We burn ourselves out - trying to manage. Mr Dr is treating me with low dose cortisone to rest and heal. The evidence from 'Safe Uses of Cortsil' Dr Jeffries is well researched and over 40 years of research he has developed a plan that appears safe and seems to work. But you need a Dr that has read the book or has low Thyroid herself ! www.drrind.com has developed a temperature chart that dx hypo and /or adrenal fatigue. I have been dosing to that and getting good results.

Georgie,

I wanted to thank you for this information.

I'm having surgery (unrelated) in 2 weeks. After that is all over and done with, I plan to persue this further. I have checked out the website you suggested. It's very interesting and informative.

Thanks again!

[georgie]

That is during the day...but it usually is lower during the day than in the morning which is really weird...Thanks!

Does that mean more adrenal than thyroid ? Have you tried asking the STTM forums ? They have an adrenal section that helped me a bit.

I wanted to thank you for this information.

I'm having surgery (unrelated) in 2 weeks. After that is all over and done with, I plan to persue this further. I have checked out the website you suggested. It's very interesting and informative.

Good luck with your surgery! I am happy to try and help a bit. Would hate to stand by and say nothing when I can see so many are not being tested or are being treated like I was. 30 years of CFS when all I needed was thyroid meds !